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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25660987">a dream so big it fills up the sky</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wr3n/pseuds/Wr3n'>Wr3n</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, 전지적 독자 시점 - 싱숑 | Omniscient Reader - Sing-Shong</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Arcobaleno Curse (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Crossovers &amp; Fandom Fusions, Dimension Travel, Gen, Name Changes, Or More Like Me Taking Advantage of the Many Different Ways People's Names Are Spelled In This Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:08:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,454</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25660987</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wr3n/pseuds/Wr3n</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>How a depressed hitman home tutor gets cursed, meets his mafia boss-to-be student, and finds hope while trying to convince his dumb student that he is loved, no matter what.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Dokja &amp; Kim Dokja's Company, Kim Dokja &amp; Yoo Jonghyuk, Most Ancient Dream &amp; Secretive Plotter (Omniscient Reader), Yoo Jonghyuk &amp; Biyoo, Yoo Jonghyuk &amp; Yoo Mia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>ORV WOLF WEEK 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a dream so big it fills up the sky</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Probably don't read this if you don't know who Secretive Plotter and the 999 gang are... or the Oldest Dream's true identity. Because this fic definitely spoils that. As well as who tls123 is. Not sure if this will make sense if you haven't read or watched KHR!, but I hope you enjoy!</p>
<p>Title is from Cristina Vee's cover of Cherryblossom's "Dive to World", a.k.a. one of my favorite KHR openings.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="MsoNormal">
  <i>
    <span>Anna
Croft looked at him with that lying, impervious smile, those distant,
all-seeing eyes that had so fascinated him at their first meeting glowing with
an untroubled, happy light as she reached out a hand to him. “Don’t you
understand, Yoo Joonghyuk? Together, we can save the world.</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    <span>”</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    <span></span>
  </i>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <i>
    <span>(nonono-)</span>
  </i>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <i>
    <span>But
it was too late, and he felt his body changing, limbs growing shorter, the
world getting Bigger. Around him, the others cried out in shock/fear/anger, but
all he could see was Her.</span>
  </i>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <i>
    <span>“It
took some time and effort to mold you into what you should be,</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    <span>”</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    <span> laughed the prophet, laughed the Woman
in the Iron Hat, “but you’ll thank me later, for what I’ve done. This is the
best way, for all of us.</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    <span>”</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    <span></span>
  </i>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <i>
    <span>(whatareyouDOINGineveragreedtothisPUTITBACK!)</span>
  </i>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <i>
    <span>Reaching
into their chests, the Woman in the Iron Hat tugged at what felt like his
heart, everyone’s hearts, gathering a ball of everyone’s Flames and solidifying
them into</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    <span>…</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    <span>
pocket watches that, try as Yoo Joonghyuk might, he <b>couldn’t take off.</b></span>
  </i>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <i>
    <span>Croft
smiled broadly at the <s>man</s> <s>doll</s> <s>chibi</s> <s>boy</s> HIM, A
PERSON, like a mother indulging her child </span>
  </i>
  <i>
    <span>–</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    
  </i>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <i>
    <span>(howcouldinothave<b>seen</b>)</span>
  </i>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <i>
    <span>-
her own pocketwatch, like his, frozen at the time they’d all shrunk, like a
marker of eternity. She patted her flat stomach (a confusing gesture for a
woman-girl-doll-freak that had neither eaten nor gotten pregnant), and asked in
a distinctly male voice, </span>
  </i>
  <span>“Don’t you think it’s time to wake up,
Secretive Plotter?</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p></p><div class="MsoNormal"><p>
    <span></span>
  </p><hr/>
<p>
    <span></span>
  </p></div><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Yu Jong-Hyuk woke up, already pulling his sword out of its
scabbard. Most people would’ve either laughed at the tiny sword being clutched
in the hand of a tiny man, or been disturbed at his violent waking impulse, but
his student just smiled </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> tremulously </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> and
asked what he’d like to eat for breakfast.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Don’t bother,</span>
  <span>” </span>
  <span>the Secretive Plotter grunted, as
usual. “I’ll make it. And you better watch carefully this time, Kim Dokja.
Cooking is a valuable skill for a mafia boss to have.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p></p><div class="MsoNormal"><p>
    <span></span>
  </p><hr/>
<p>
    <span></span>
  </p></div><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Arcobaleno had entered his life with no fuss, no muss,
just:</span>
  
  <span>“Kim Dokja. I’m your new home tutor.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> No hello, no cutesy baby mannerisms
“appropriate for his size</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>, no uncertainty over whether he’d gotten the wrong person
or house. Just the absolute, cool confidence of a kkoma hitman tutor that had
done this more than a hundred </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> no, a thousand times.</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>And Kim Dokja just
accepted it. The Secretive Plotter hadn’t questioned it at the time </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> the file had said the boy was obedient
in the face of authority, and despite his doll-like proportions, Yu Jong-Hyuk
had more than enough experience breaking down doors that would usually be
closed to baby-sized people. Especially with his Sage’s Eye being more than a
match for any secrets people might be hiding from him.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>But sometimes the
prospective Vongola Tenth would get a strange, knowing look in his eyes when he
thought his tutor wasn’t looking, before reverting back to the slightly shy
(slowly changing into shaky confidence with the Plotter’s nudging and lack of
patience for diffidence) boy that Yu Jong-Hyuk knew from his intel. The one
whose dedicated self-defense skills (from the classes Lee Sookyung had sent him
to the months before the Secretive Plotter had come) could easily be explained
away by the boy’s tragic past with the former CEDEF Head. The eager boy who was
just as starry-eyed with admiration and eager to learn as Lee Jihye, though he
didn’t call Yu Jong-Hyuk </span>
  <span>‘</span>
  <span>Master’.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Ninth had assigned
him a simple enough task for the Plotter to complete in exchange for valuable
information that Anna Croft was too dead (apparently) to give, and that the
Woman in the Iron Mask certainly wouldn’t hand over, so why </span>
  <span>–</span>
  
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Why, when Yu Jong-Hyuk
looked at his student, spacing out and appearing to read something on the air
that wasn’t there, did he feel like a puppet whose strings were being
manipulated?</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p></p><div class="MsoNormal"><p>
    <span></span>
  </p><hr/>
<p>
    <span></span>
  </p></div><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>After they had been cursed, due to That Woman’s betrayal,
the Woman in the Iron Hat had clapped her hands, seemingly satisfied with her
job of cursing grown adults</span>
  <span> –</span>
  <span> well, mostly grown, and wasn’t it a tragedy
that Lee Jihye and Kim Nam-Wun would never fully grow up, and instead be cursed
back to a childlike form? </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span>
for some ridiculous reason like “saving the world.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The prophet that had played them all for fools merely smiled
calmly, having achieved her goal to get them all here at the mercy of a strange
woman that hadn’t even shown her face. (Coward.)</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Change us back!</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
Lee Jihye had demanded fretfully, stomping over to glare the half-masked
stranger in the eye as best she could (being smaller and shorter than the
relatively petite woman now). Her blue pocketwatch, patterned with stylized
waves and embossed with a sailing ship, swung like a pendulum. “I can’t live
like this. My high school graduation is next week! I have college admissions to
accept!</span>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Yeah, what gives?</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> Kim
Nam-Wun chimed in, clearly wanting to support his crush. “I hated being a brat
and I don’t want to go back to those days. Where’s the Ultimate Power you
promised me?</span>
  <span>” </span>
  <span>He
fingered the purple pocketwatch around his neck with a skeptical air, not
seeming to think much of the simple knife engraved on it. “This shit’s lame,
why can’t I have something cool like, a gundam, or a DRAGON, or some color
that’s not pastel fucking purple decorating this old-man watch?</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> The red marks from
tugging so hard at the chain, so many times, showed clearly on his pale neck
like a thin collar.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Woman in the Iron Hat merely smiled coolly, waving away
their complaints like buzzing flies, her white coat pristine and bright against
the shifting, swirling backdrop.“This
is the way it has to be: to preserve the safety of trillions of lives, at the
unfortunate cost of seven.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
Her eyes lingered briefly on Yoo Mia, who was cautiously touching the new scars
on her face and the stone-gray pocketwatch hanging at her neck, seemingly
unable to be opened, bearing only dark scribbles like a toddler’s drawing. Yoo
Joonghyuk moved to block her line of sight (his own orange pocketwatch moving
with him like a silent shadow), glad that he could do that much, since he and
his little sister were now around the same size.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“B-but,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
Lee Hyunsung stammered, looking the very picture of a cute boy playing dressup
in army greens now that they had all shrunk, “is there a way to change us back,
<i>without </i>compromising all those lives</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> ma’am?</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> His bright green
pocketwatch was the only thing that disrupted the picture, with a strangely
detailed shield and sword inscription that could be seen even through Lee
Hyunsung’s hand half-covering it in self-consciousness.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What are these watches?</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> Lee Seolhwa, looking even more
ethereal as a doll-sized woman with hair as white as the stranger’s coat and
ruby-red lips, asked in what looked like idle interest, as she turned her
golden pocketwatch this way and that, reflecting the light off the sigil of a
bubbling beaker of an unidentified liquid labeled with crossbones pierced
through a heart. She had always been quick at adapting, and apparently - even
in this alien situation they had found themselves in - a doctor’s curiosity for
all things relating to the human body could not be stopped.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You may call me </span>
  <span>‘</span>
  <span>tls123’,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> she said, unruffled
by the odd looks they all gave her (except Yoo Joonghyuk. He didn’t care what
she called herself </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> he
just wanted her and That Woman to <i>pay</i>).
“The pocketwatches are artifacts that hold the power keeping all the world-lines
in balance, which you were chosen to protect with your very lives </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> and there is no cure
to reverse the byproduct of the curse causing your kkoma bodies that I’ve found</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> in this world-line,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> tls123 amended,
looking at them with the fascination of a scientist studying new specimens.
“But perhaps in another</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>?</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“WAIT,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
growled Uriel, who had been in the middle of trying for the nth time with her
sword to cut the pocketwatch chain from her neck (the actual watch swinging too
much for Yoo Joonghyuk to make out more than its ruby red color), and glowering
at the bob-haired woman each time she failed, for the entire conversation. Said
sword now lit up with her signature red Flames, the tendrils seeming to reach
out for the Woman in the Iron Hat. “Just wait, you stupid fuck! Don’t think I
won’t come back for YOUUUUU</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>!</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Her words trailed off with a howl as they all fell backwards
into the portal, as the mysterious woman bid them farewell with a light,
mocking laugh and an “I look forward to it!</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p></p><div class="MsoNormal"><p>
    <span></span>
  </p><hr/>
<p>
    <span></span>
  </p></div><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Kim Dokja had a great many games stored in his multiple
consoles, for a self-proclaimed reader who didn’t seem to be into games and
never had friends over before a hitman invited himself into his life. That made
it much easier for Yu Jong-Hyuk to train his student’s reflexes and
relationship with luck when springing an unexpected dance battle, Mario Party
scrimmages, and the like on Kim Dokja.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>(Yoo Joonghyuk had done the same with his sister, and the
other kids, though of course it had been just for fun then. The Plotter shut
his eyes against those memories, and resolved to go to Lee Seolhwa for another
checkup. The headaches were getting worse.)</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Supervise him for now, Biyoo,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> Yu Jong-Hyuk said to his ever-present
aide. The fluffy cloud-like creature nodded and took over operating his
controller with her smaller limbs, giving Kim Dokja more of a chance to turn
the tide. She had learned all the tricks he could teach her, over the decades,
but he was the Ruler of Amusement. There was just no contest.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Making his way to the kitchen, the Plotter nodded at Kim
Dokja’s mother in greeting and deigned to take one of the murim dumplings she
had been making for his student and probably his friends, should they decide to
drop by as usual. It wasn’t as good as his, of course, but he did know manners,
<i>Kim Dokja</i>. The brat had gotten bolder
as of late, daring to tease his home tutor so. Perhaps the Secretive Plotter
would take him out to a sword hall for some <i>dedicated</i>,
<i>hands-on training</i> with Unbroken Faith
and Jincheon Paedo, just to show him that there were lines he couldn’t cross,
even as the next-in-line for a prestigious Family. Taking a vengeful bite of
another dumpling as he pictured his student’s despairing face at yet more
training after he’d been lightly worked over by the stimulation from gaming, Yu
Jong-Hyuk didn’t stop the smirk from coming to his lips. (Teacher would do the
same, if she were here.)</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>It would be good training, anyway, for the time they would
have to confront the monkey that was Sakyamuni di Vongola’s last surviving son.
Kim Dokja was very charismatic for his age, as expected of such a strong Sky so
young, with a streak of cunning that had overcome the young punk from Kokuyo,
but it would remain to be seen if all Yu Jong-Hyuk had done - teaching him hand-to-hand,
swordsmanship, and tactics - would even out the gap of experience and skill
between Jaecheon Daesong and Kim Dokja. He plotted with the ease of having seen
the scenario a dozen times, remembering to keep an eye on Lee Sookyung (who
appeared to be washing the dishes peaceably, like a normal housewife) all the
while. She had been External Advisor, in at least one of the world-lines.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Despite the lack of relation between her and the First, in
this world-line and many others, Plotter wondered sometimes if it wasn’t her
that passed on the famous Vongola Hyper-Intuition to his student - rather than
the corpse rotting six feet under for a crime that even the famously pacifistic
Ninth wouldn’t tolerate from one of his own.</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p></p><div class="MsoNormal"><p>
    <span></span>
  </p><hr/>
<p>
    <span></span>
  </p></div><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>It wasn’t Hyper-Intuition.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Yu Jong-Hyuk,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
the Demon King of Salvation greeted him, smiling at him with his student’s face
and wearing a white coat similar to his ancient enemy’s. “Or should I call you</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> Secretive Plotter?
Kind of a chuuni name to go by, don’t you think?</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>This coming from a guy using a name only an overcompensating
weakling would use. </span>
  <span>‘</span>
  <span>Secretive
Plotter’ was a subtle, understated pseudonym filled with elegance.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Where is Kim Dokja?</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> he
demanded, instead of responding to that ridiculous comment. Yoo Joonghyuk may
have failed to protect Lee Jihye, but Yu Jong-Hyuk <i>would</i> protect his second student, even from this imposter. The
Plotter knew that Kim Dokja had Misty tendencies, but this <i>fraud </i>creating a lookalike of the future Vongola Tenth that bore a
significant resemblance to the Woman in the Iron Hat was an insult on every
level, and if it weren’t for the other man in the room </span>
  <span>–</span>
  
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Yu Jong-Hyuk eyed the tall, wavy-haired man standing calmly
by the fake-Kim Dokja’s side, hand resting casually on Heugcheon Mado’s hilt,
eyes a deceptive plain black. He’d seen the right eye glow gold earlier, using
the very same ability the Secretive Plotter had!</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>- if it hadn’t been for that <i>fake</i>, the kkoma hitman would’ve already ended the Demon King of
Salvation’s illusions with a sword to the gullet. As if reading his mind
(although that was impossible, and Yu Jong-Hyuk had blocked his ability with
his own Sage’s Eye the minute they had come face-to-face), the
similarly-dressed man shifted in front of his Boss (although common knowledge
said Skies could not serve other Skies like Guardians), and drew his sword
(that Secretive Plotter had stopped using ages ago, once he’d gotten Jincheon
Paedo) to block any attempts he might’ve made at assassination.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Stand down, Yoo Junghyeok,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> the Demon laughed, bending Kim Dokja’s
face into one of the sweet, smug smiles Yu Jong-Hyuk used to relish witnessing
from his student as he grew into his own. “The arcobaleno’s no threat to us.
I’ve already gotten what I needed from the kid. Soon, the Oldest Dream will be
at an end.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>In that moment, the kkoma found himself grateful for the
anti-Tri-ni-sette Radiation that was circulating in his cell (not enough,
however, to kill him until these twisted counterparts had their way with him) </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> it prevented him from
stiffening in response to the Demon King’s provocation, which would’ve been a
betrayal he would never forgive himself for.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>(How did they know about the Oldest Dream, a figure so
obscure that most of the world-lines he and the other Arcobaleno had been to
had never known Its name, only seeing It as a divine figure of which all
records had been lost? Was this what the Woman in the Iron Hat had meant, when
she said they would find the key to breaking their curse?</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>And not only that, but</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>)</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Shamefully, the Secretive Plotter, who prided himself on the
cool head he kept and the devotion he expended singlemindedly toward the cause
of breaking the Arcobaleno curse for himself and all his companions</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> could not bear the
thought of Kim Dokja, back straight and having learnt to keep his head high </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> suffering from the
torture and interrogation the Millefiore (who’d already shown themselves to be
a master at psychological manipulation on par with Anna Croft and Kim Dokja’s
Han Sooyoung) must’ve put him through.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Bring the boy here,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
the Demon King of so-called </span>
  <span>‘</span>
  <span>Salvation’
said to one of the identical-looking Dokkaebis he kept on staff that were so
unlike Biyoo, who the Plotter (in an act of cowardice he despised himself for)
could not look at. He didn’t know what his captors had done to her to make her
quiescent form lie motionless on the palm of the Misty imposter, but he liked
it as much as the pitying look that </span>
  <span>‘</span>
  <span>Yoo
Junghyeok’ was giving him (after resheathing Heugcheon Mado but keeping to his
position): not. At. All.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Smiling at Yu Jong-Hyuk like he knew exactly what he’d read
the Plotter’s life story and knew exactly how this was going to end, the
not-Kim Dokja continued, “Maybe he can make our guest understand who exactly is
the good guy here.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>At that incomprehensible statement, the Dokkaebi bowed
respectfully at the Millefiore leader and left the room, and for the first time
in a while, the Sky Arcobaleno hated that he was so small, that his size and
status made him vulnerable to the gas that this enemy had obviously stolen from
Lee Seolhwa, that he was always being held at the mercy of these damn
manipulative bastards who always thought they knew best!</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Yu Jong-Hyuk wasn’t given to flights of fancy, but mentoring
Kim Dokja must have made him soft, because instead of the usual ennui and
tiredness he felt from getting kidnapped for his powers and inevitably killing
them all, he couldn’t help but believe in his student. Believe that he would
find Kim Dokja, or his student would find him, and together with the other’s
Guardians and their allies, they would burst out of here, and </span>
  <span>–</span>
  
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Secretive Plotter was relieved to see that Kim Dokja was
unharmed, and pretending very successfully to be a model prisoner when the
Millefiore lackeys brought his student out, with his head bowed so his bangs
covered his eyes and a posture Yu Jong-Hyuk hadn’t seen since the first month
he’d come to tutor the young Sky. Leave it to Kim Dokja to fake weakness as
part of an escape plan. Even the Plotter would’ve been convinced </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> would’ve been shaken
about how strangely bereft he looked without the usual suspects (Lee Gilyoung,
Shin Yoosung, Kim Namwoon, ABFD, Jung Heewon, etc.) clustering around him </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> if Yu Jong-Hyuk
hadn’t known the depth of Kim Dokja’s courage and conviction, like these
imposters didn’t.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Just look at that bastard sticking so closely to the
Millefiore leader’s side, at the Funeral Wreaths lack of skill in hiding their
presences (to the World’s Greatest Hitman, they might as well have been holding
up signposts proclaiming how worried they were for their Boss) in and out of
the room. Most likely, this Demon King had no experience with acting alone, like
the future Vongola Tenth that aggravated and distressed the Guardians who were
theoretically supposed to protect him. The home tutor in him admired the
independence and initiative the self-sacrificing fool demonstrated, but the
poor dead Yoo Joonghyuk that sometimes still wanted to protect</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> didn’t think it was a
bad thing to make his student learn that the Guardians were not there to be
babysat by an Arcobaleno, but to be a functioning unit fighting with their Sky.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Right after they got out of here, anyway. Thankfully, there
were no bruises or broken limbs or anything that would hinder Kim Dokja in a
fight, except </span>
  <span>–</span>
  
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Now, my mini-me,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
said the Demon King of Salvation, Boss of the Millefiore Family, the reason he
and many others had been summoned to the future, and <i>the wearer of the real Kim Dokja’s face</i>, “why don’t you tell your
overprotective babysitter </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> “
flicking a slightly irritated look at Yoo Junghyeok, “</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>about us.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> As the fake had moved
to rest his hand on his student’s shoulder in a misleadingly relaxed-looking
grip, the deflated-looking Biyoo bounced up and on top of the hand. Now right
next to Kim Dokja’s cheek, she gave a distressed cry of “A-baat!</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> as the dokkaebi
looked sadly between him and the aggressor.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The cold look in the Millefiore’s leader’s eyes didn’t
lesson by much, but it thawed enough that Yu Jong-Hyuk had faith he could stop
the </span>
  <span>‘</span>
  <span>Demon
King’ tightening his hand enough to leave a significant bruise on the boy’s
shoulder, or moving his hand to Kim Dokja’s neck and strangling him in time.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Secretive Plotter waited for Kim Dokja to brush off the
other’s hand (he knew his student didn’t like strangers or non-friends touching
him, after what happened with his father) angrily, or sneer at the innuendo and
clarify it was impossible for their enemy - wearing his face in a sad attempt
at mockery </span>
  <span>– </span>
  <span>and
him, the one everyone trusted and liked despite themselves, to have a
relationship beyond </span>
  <span>‘</span>
  <span>mutual
hatred and the desire to destroy each other’, much like Yu Jong-Hyuk and Yoo
Junghyeok.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>It was a shock of cold water, Anna Croft’s hand reaching out
to hold him still as he struggled against the curse making him smaller, the
smile of an Iron-masked Woman telling him his suffering was necessary for a
mysterious cause, when Kim Dokja raised his head, not looking angry, but</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> resigned. Sad.
Regretful.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I’m sorry, Yoo Joonghyuk,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> he said <i>and that was not the name the Secretive Plotter had given him how could
he know </i></span>
  <i>
    <span>–</span>
  </i>
  <i>
    
  </i>
  <span>“The
truth is</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> Before
I met you, a woman appeared to me in my dreams, showing me the end of the
world.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Secretive Plotter had no time to be surprised, before
his student rushed on, explaining about how that woman (Anna Croft?
Checkerface?) connected him with the other hims from different world-lines,
letting them work together to discover the solution she could not. It was a lot
to handle </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> a Dream
so strong it created the ability to harness the soul and bring Flames and other
abilities into existence? Living incarnations of that dream, bearing the weight
of the world on their shoulders? The not-Kim Dokja, actually being another
version of his student and using Millefiore as a smokescreen for illicit
Vongola activity? What even.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>As Yu Jong-Hyuk listened more to his Kim Dokja’s words,
bursting forth like a water that had been dammed for years, he felt the
suspicions previously suppressed by Kim Dokja’s ineffable charisma (was <i>this </i>how one Sky could follow another?)
solidify into <i>Knowing</i>, as the veil of
his apparent misconceptions parted, and </span>
  <span>–</span>
  
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Kim Dokja,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> he
could only say, not knowing whether he was talking to his student or</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> the other one, “you’re
an idiot. You see yourself as the source of my curse, and since <i>this </i>one,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> he nodded at the other Kim Dokja,
going by the most ridiculous name he wasn’t going to say anymore, “is the
strongest of the other you’s of all the world-lines you can access, you’re
planning to</span>
  <span>…”</span>
  <span>
the kkoma didn’t think he needed to say more. Apparently, the stuff about the
Disconnected Film Theory the older (and just as idiotic) Kim Dokja had been
talking about, while Yu Jong-Hyuk only half-listened to, was right: because Yoo
Junghyeok caught on fairly quickly.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You are <i>not </i>sacrificing
yourself,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
the only Guardian within strangling distance growled, lifting his Sky up by the
collar of his white coat. (Yu Jong-Hyuk really missed his true form and normal
voice.) With that, the other Kim Dokja was forced to let go of the Plotter’s student,
as Biyoo bounced up again and this time arrowed toward his shoulder (like she <i>should’ve </i>done in the first place, but.
Kim Dokja). The Plotter had no attention to spare for the other’s flailing, as
he protested the manhandling with a loud, “Junghyeok-ah!</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> because Yu Jong-Hyuk
was too busy with his own student, trying to pound the lesson he’d planned to
give the Vongola heir when they got back into Kim Dokja’s thick skull right
here and right now that he’d gotten the facts.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Footsteps approached them, Funeral Wreaths and the Guardians
from their world-line coming closer now that the tension was mostly diffused.
Jang Hayoung was talking excitedly about her dust-up with her Storm counterpart
in the Millefiore, while ABFD was grumbling about how he “totally would’ve won
if [he] unsealed both his arms at the start,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> and Jung Heewon cracked her knuckles
threateningly, muttering that they should’ve just locked Kim Dokja up, if he
was going plan out stupid ideas when this entire time, he could’ve asked for
help from his FRIENDS so they could come up with a better plan</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> and frankly, the
Plotter couldn’t disagree with her.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Although he understood wanting to keep his companions safe</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> didn’t Kim Dokja owe
his Family something, as friends who’d gone through hell and high water together,
as companions of life and death? After so long bound to a curse together, if it
was something affecting all of them</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> Yu
Jong-Hyuk had learned it was better to at least consult with his fellow
Arcobaleno before making any rash decisions.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Kim Dokja,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> he
</span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span>
the Secretive Plotter, Yu Jong-Hyuk, and above all, Yoo Joonghyuk </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> said, breaking
through the tumult around both versions, as both his student and the other
world-line’s raised their heads. “You’re not alone.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Your sunfish bastard is right,</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> chimed in an
unfamiliar long-haired male speaking in what was definitely Han Sooyoung’s
voice. He was much taller than her actual body. “Don’t go dying alone in some
corner like an ugly squid. Unless you really want me to possess your body and
become the Vongola Tenth.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
This started up a commotion all over again amongst the Guardians, but even as
Kim Dokja protested against one-half of his Mist Guardians’ words, he had a
reluctant smile on his face (and the other one gave the Plotter a nod of acknowledgement,
before seeming to be worn down by his counterpart’s vociferous arguments). It
was enough.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>For the first time since he’d gotten the thing, Yu Jong-Hyuk
picked up the orange pocketwatch engraved with the ouroboros and a wolf’s head
intertwined, and flipped open the cover to glance at the clock face. As
expected, the hour hand pointed at 9, the minute hand at 15, with the smaller
third hand frozen at the 8<sup>th</sup> second </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> the exact time he and the others from
the 999<sup>th</sup> worldline had been cursed.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Yoo Joonghyuk had been a pro gamer, called the Supreme King
by fans and reporters, with not a single connection to his name but his sister,
Yoo Mia, and had been easy enough prey for pretty psychic Anna Croft to lure
into a meeting of “The World’s Seven Strongest.</span>
  <span>”</span>
  <span> Yu Jong-Hyuk had risen from his ashes:
a disciple of the Underworld’s Breaking the Sky Saint, a mentor to the Master
of the Sunken Island, and still</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> a
brother, a friend</span>
  <span>…</span>
  <span> a
gamer. And now, the Secretive Plotter stood and, in one fluid motion, snapped
the pocketwatch closed and leaped onto his stupid student’s shoulder (Biyoo
adhering firmly to her position), before climbing onto Kim Dokja’s head and
surveying the scene from a Conquering King’s vantage, disregarding the slight
wobbles and surprised protests from his ride.</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>He wasn’t a reader who could predict how their story would
end, or a writer that would guide his companions through a storyline like
characters, but an Arcobaleno, a kkoma, a man who believed that - whatever plan
made by him, Kim Dokja, and those keeping both of them company </span>
  <span>–</span>
  <span> it would ensure that
no more people would spend eternity bound to someone else’s time, for the sake
of an old dream.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So! My attempt at filling all the prompts from Wolf Week's Days 1-5! I think all of them at least got a mention except fairytales... which I might do another time haha. Basically this got inspired by me connecting babysitter + mafia with... KHR AU!!! Reborn is basically Tsuna's babysitter for most of the series anyway, right? And it was surprisingly easy to connect SP and OD together like that since he ends up like his dad by the end hehehe. Feel free to tell me what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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